Adaptability Is The Key When It Comes To Test Cricket: Jonny Bairstow

Swashbuckling England batsman Jonny Bairstow has stressed on the need to adapt to different situations while playing the longest format of the game and he is ready to do so in the second Test against a world-class Indian bowling attack at Lord’s.

Jonny Bairstow, who made his comeback to the England Test team in the Nottingham Test, has endured his fair share of struggles against the Indian bowlers in red-ball cricket in the past few years.

He had a shocking time in India earlier this year where he registered three ducks in four innings on spin-friendly tracks.

When asked if Indian bowlers are more hostile in English conditions as compared to their home conditions, Jonny Bairstow said-

“It’s quite an open-ended question. The strength of the Indian bowling attack, whether or not you play in England or India you look at a different type of ball,” said Jonny Bairstow while replying to ANI’s query.

“When playing in India compared to England you have different types of pitches as we saw in Ahmedabad and Chennai for instance. So naturally different skills are needed to face them but adaptability is the key when it comes to Test and being adaptable is more important,“ Bairstow added.

The first Test in Nottingham ended in a farce as persistent rain ensured that not a single ball was delivered on the final day.

The Test was on a knife edge at the end of the 4th day with India requiring a further 157 runs and England needing another nine wickets.

Jonny Bairstow reckoned that the match could have gone to either side on the final day and that both teams’ will take their fair share of positives from the game to Lord’s.

“Both teams will look at it slightly differently, chasing 150 can be quite tricky and we saw our bowlers bowl extremely well. So who knows how the game would have panned out on the last day,” said Bairstow.

“We will take positives from the game. I am sure India will also take positives from their performance as well,” he added.

Bairstow signed off by stating that he will continue to bat with the same approach as he did in the first Test.

“It depends on the pitch, the conditions. But I can’t change my approach from the last game. I’m going to bat with a similar kind of approach,” he said.

The second Test between England and India will take place at Lord’s between August 12-16.

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